Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sometimes Your Body Says Enough!

Last year (school year) I had a very healthy year!  I think I used no more than 5 sick days the entire year.  Right now its December, and I've used 4 days!  I'm not having a good school year so far.  At first it was migraines and now I've got a cold. 

I am doing my best, trying to force myself to listen to my body instead of constantly being on the go!  Often if I'm not at the dojang, I'm at the gym or I'm out.  I'm usually a busy, busy girl and I do like to be that way... most of the time.  Lately I've been wanting nothing more than to just be home, but its that time of year where Christmas shopping needs to get done, there are social and other commitments.

I've been coming down with this cold since Friday, started slowly loosing my voice.  Today I finally stayed home and rested... well for the most part.  It was nice to get up when my body said it was time to get up.  I took a nap, when my body said it was time.  I did get in a 3K run on the treadmill, I was able to breathe no problem and my coughing didn't act up so I went with it.  Was it foolish or smart?  I don't know my voice is 90% better and I do feel much better today.  I'll be back at work tomorrow.

Some of you may think I'm crazy getting in a run while I have a cold.  The other week an article came up on my Weight Watchers home page (as they usually do each week) called "Too Sick to Sweat".  I of course read it, not know I had a cold in my near future.  I read a lot of the articles that come up on the WW website, as I know a key to my success has been educating myself, reading and learning.

Here are the key tips from that article :

When not to exercise
  • Temperature of 99.5F or higher
  • When you have GI symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting, nausea)
  • Cold with chest congestion/tightness, hacking cough with mucus
Exercise with caution
  • Headache with lightheartedness
  • Sore throat
  • Exhaustion
Go for it!
  • Cold, but no fever with symptoms above the neck (stuffy nose)
So when do we know its time to resume our exercise routine? 
  • If you've seen the Doctor, listen to them!  If the Doctor tells you to rest for 4-5 days... do it!  You can resume your weight loss efforts when you're feeling better. 
  • Time, give your body time to recover, also this will help avoid a relapse or injury. 
  •  Eat well while sick (if you can or as well as you can), eat more fruits and veggies!
  • Sleep, your body repairs mentally and physically when at sleep.
  • Keep hydrated
  • Resume your exercise routine slowly
Because of this darned cold I've not made it into a Weight Watchers meeting this week, which I'm desperate to do!  The new ProPoints program rolled out in Canada this week.  I've read what I can on the website and I'm following the new points system on eTools but I'd love to get my hands on the official meeting information.  I'll be hitting the Saturday morning meeting this week and hopefully I'll be able to tell you all about it and what exactly WW's focus is for us now with these changes.

I have to say with the new plan I've already noticed I am struggling to eat all my daily points!  Yes we get more daily points, and yes food items have a higher point value so I think those two balance each other out.  This is making me realize just how many points a day I spent on fruit (which I love).  I've been moving my thinking towards eating more protein.

I'm sure I've already said this but I'm hoping this new ProPoints plan will help me shift my last pounds to get to my healthy BMI.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Sorry to hear that you're not well again, hope you feel better real soon.

Jo said...

I've had a dreaful cold this week - hope they both clear up quickly.

Sounds like you're now aware of the best bits of propoints... I am eating so much fruit now (also great for the cold). Quite a few of us in my meeting have lost a ton of weight with the change - hope that's the case for you too - good luck!!

Unknown said...

You know, I am really grateful for the guidelines on when and when not to exercise. I tend to always think that it's not a good idea when I am not feeling well and that's not a good thing. I can easily talk myself out of a workout no problem. But with these guidelines, it will give me something concrete to adhere to and really pay attention to how I'm 'actually' feeling. Thanks, Dani. Hope you feel better soon :)